The Adventures of Ghost Dean and Cat Lover Cas - DISCONTINUED
by xlalady
Summary: Dean is trying to haunt the new tenant of the apartment, but the new guy has a lot of cats and everything he does is blamed on them. DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1 - The First Meeting

Castiel set the last of his boxes down and stood up, proudly surveying his new apartment.

He loved it. It was spacious, in a nice area, close to work, and the rent was pretty cheap. It was a huge step from his old, tiny shoebox apartment, the one he had been living in since college.

It was mostly bare right then, just some of the bigger furniture and a pile of boxes, but he could imagine what it would look like when he finished unpacking and it was fully decorated.

But right now, he didn't want to do anything but sit on the couch and watch some crap tv because he had been driving back and forth from his old apartment to his new one with all the boxes all day. He hadn't wanted to rent a trailer, but now he was regretting that decision.

Movement to his right caught his eye and he smiled at Mabel, his orange tabby. She was on the counter, sniffing around in the kitchen.

"What do think, Mabel? Do you like the new place?" he asked. "The windows have a much better view than a brick wall, huh?" She glanced at him, but went back to her explorations.

He sighed and settled himself on the couch. He was reaching for the remote when a white ball of fluff hopped up next to him, nudging his leg for attention. His Persian, Whiskers. "Hey, bud," he said, stroking his back. Whiskers started purring and curling up next to him as Castiel continued petting him.

He turned the tv on, ready for a quiet night in.

About an hour or so later, he heard a loud thump from the bedroom and he watched as Alex, his Russian blue came darting from the same direction, looking spooked. Castiel only sighed disapprovingly and addressed his cat. "I told you to leave those boxes alone or one would fall on you, girl. But don't worry, I'll have all your stuff unpacked first thing tomorrow morning, and you won't need to play with my boxes." He resumed watching tv.

Later that night he woke up to a loud crash outside his bedroom. He groaned, too lazy to get up and investigate. "Guys, come on," he called out loudly, " I'm trying to sleep, you can play in the morning." He rolled back over on his side, trying not to disturb Maggie, his long haired tuxedo, who was curled up against his legs.

The next morning Castiel was sipping coffee on the couch, watching the morning news, when he heard a crash from the kitchen. He rolled his eyes, but set his coffee on the coffee table, got up and walked towards to kitchen. And there was Sanders, his tortoiseshell, sitting on the counter staring down at his sugar container on the floor. That had spilled sugar everywhere.

Castiel groaned. He had already woken up to find another box had been tipped over from where it was perched on another—the loud crash from last night—but luckily, nothing had broken.

He walked to the spare bedroom where he was keeping most of the boxes and started rummaging around for his broom and dustpan set. When he finally found it, he walked back to the kitchen to find that Sanders hadn't moved. "You know, you are like the stereotypical asshole cat who just knocks things over for fun," he told his cat as he knelt down to clean up the mess.

* * *

Over the next few weeks there were a lot more incidents, and frankly, Castiel was getting tired of it. Literally. He was woken at least once a night by some noise or a cat scrambling across his bed, spooked by something. And with five cats, he was used to these kinds of things happening often, but this was ridiculous. They were always knocking things over, causing picture frames to fall from the wall, scratching along the floor at night. He'd had to buy new plates the other day because they had broken so many. It was like they were trying to make life difficult.

And to add more problems, his AC was all out of whack. It would get really cold at random times, despite the whole system being no more than a few years old. And, every now and then, his lights would flicker and the tv would fuzz for a few seconds. But while it was quite annoying, it didn't happen often enough for him to really complain. Besides, the lights at his old apartments would flicker sometimes too. Though, Castiel expected better from the newer building.

Currently, he was in the middle of cleaning the apartment because his brother would be coming over for 'monthly bonding time,' as Gabriel liked to call it. Then he heard a loud crash and crack and watched as Sanders and Alex came running from his bedroom with wide eyes and arched backs.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Castiel shouted, startling Maggie who was asleep on the cat tree in the living room. "What the fuck is wrong with you guys?"

He walked into his bedroom and saw his mirror, which was now cracked, laying on the ground. He let out a frustrated sound. It was a full-length mirror that he hadn't hung on the wall yet, so the past few weeks it had been leaning against his dresser. Now it was on the ground next to the dresser and he noticed his alarm clock was on the ground too, probably what had cracked it. Luckily, it seemed unharmed, though he would have to find a new mirror.

"You know that's seven years of bad luck, right?" he called out angrily. "Sanders, you're already nine. You're probably not gonna live seven more years. You know what that means? Bad luck the rest of your life. _The rest of your goddamn life!"_

Then the doorbell rang. Castiel groaned and took one last look at the mirror, which had ugly cracks running from the center, and went to answer the door.

"Hey, baby bro, ready to do some brotherly bonding?" Gabriel said as he waltzed in, taking in the apartment. He had seen the apartment when it was empty, but this was his first time seeing it fully furnished and decorated. He turned to Castiel. "Nice place."

"Thanks," he responded tiredly, plopping down onto the couch.

"Woah, what's got you all stressed out? Noisy neighbors?" Gabriel asked sitting next to Castiel on the couch. Whiskers immediately jumped onto his lap, nudging his chest for attention. "Well hello there, Fluffy," he greeted in a baby voice, scratching under the cat's chin.

"His name is Whiskers, not Fluffy."

"Cas, look at this guy," he said, turning Whisker's chin to face Castiel. "He's more hair than cat. You clearly misnamed him."

"Why do you have to argue my cat's name every time you see him? And you know that I wasn't the one who named him, he came with the name."

"Geez, what's got your panties in a twist, we usual bicker a few minutes before you snap."

"It's the goddamn cats! They're driving me crazy," Castiel exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"But you love your cats," Gabriel said.

"No, I do, I love them to death, but just lately…I don't know." He sighed. "They've been acting weird and making a bunch of noise and breaking things and knocking things over. Right before you came, Sanders and Alex broke my mirror. And I mean _broke it_ , all cracked like you see in movies."

"And they never did stuff like that at the old apartment?"

"No, they did, just not this frequently. I mean, yeah, they occasionally knocked things over or woke me up at night, but now it's happening all the time."

"Well, they're probably just adjusting," Gabriel said with a shrug. Whiskers had curled up in his lap and was purring contentedly as he stroked him. "You know, new place, new layout, new smells and all that crap. Give it a few more weeks and everything will be back to normal."

"Yeah, maybe," Castiel said, unconvinced.

"Well, come on. Are we going to lunch or what?" Gabriel said, gently placing Whiskers on the cat tree and standing up.

"Yeah, you go head on down, just let me get my wallet," he said, waving Gabriel towards the door.

As Gabriel headed out, Castiel walked back to the bedroom. He opened the drawer in his nightstand to grab his wallet when he felt the hair the back of his neck stand up. A shiver ran down his spine and he got the distinct feeling of being watched. He slowly turned around only to find Mabel crouched on top of his armoire. He let out a sigh of relief. "God, you scared me Mabel." He grabbed his wallet from the drawer. "See you later, sweetheart," he murmured as he left.

* * *

A figure watched as Castiel walked out the door, locking it behind him. He let out a loud groan of frustration, which of course, only the cats could hear, evidenced by Maggie and Whiskers blinking sleepily at him from their perches. Goddamned psychically-tuned cats. Though, admittedly, the five of them were growing on him.

He had been haunting this place for weeks—well, more than weeks, but this particular tenant for weeks—and nothing. Everything he tried to do was just blamed on the cats. He was starting to feel bad for them. But who had five cats anyway?

He supposed he didn't have to be a malicious spirit, he could simply share the space. And it was nice that he cats could see him, it made him feel less alone. The last tenants didn't have any pets and were quite annoying. He was more than happy to see them go. And the new tenant was nice, quiet, and it didn't hurt that he was very cute.

But what else did a ghost do for fun other than scaring the shit out of the living? He couldn't just sit around all day until this guy moved out.

So far, the apartment had been rented seven times, including the new guy. Nobody had lasted more than a year. He usually liked to play it slow. Spoke them a bit the first week or two, then back off for a while, with just the occasionally odd occurrence. Then, once they were properly settled, he would start making noises and moving things, getting worse and worse until eventually they couldn't take it anymore and they moved out. He felt a little bad about it all, but he had never hurt anyone or done anything too serious, and they would move on and laugh about it later.

But not this guy. From day one he had been trying to alert the guy to his presence, but the damn cats kept getting in the way. So, instead of giving him time to settle, he kept doing more and more things, but nothing worked. And it was making him angry which sometimes made the temperature drop or the lights flicker. He could do these things on purpose if he really wanted, but usually saved for towards the end of his hauntings. But even if he were doing it on purpose, the guy just thought it was faulty wiring and poor maintenance.

But he wouldn't give up. Not yet. He was determined to scare this guy away.

* * *

He had given up.

It had taken about three more weeks for him to finally call quits and for the past week he had just been floating around the house in depression. He still did stuff every now and then, just in case, but nothing. Nothing. And all it had taken was a few cats.

He had resigned himself to a boring life of just watching someone else's. And it would probably be a while—years, in fact, before this guy moved out.

His only real hope was that the guy would find someone and want to move to a house or a bigger apartment, but in the three months that he had been living here, had hadn't brought so much as a one-night stand home. And he supposes he wouldn't either if he had five cats, but the guy hadn't slept anywhere else so far, so that was ruled out. Hell, he hadn't even masturbated—not that he would watch that—well, maybe he would. Sue him, guy's hot and ghosts don't get a whole lot of action.

He was sitting on the couch, moping about the shitty situation when things changed.

* * *

Castiel struggled to unlock his apartment door with two armfuls of groceries. Eventually he was successful and he walked in. He opened his mouth to call out a greeting when he caught sight of a man sitting on his couch, petting Mabel.

He dropped his groceries in shock, but the man merely glanced over before returning his attention to the cat. "Who the fuck are you? How did you get in here?" he asked, thoroughly freaked by the stranger in his living room, however, the man didn't so much as look up when Castiel spoke. "Hey, I'm talking to you," he said angrily, taking a careful step closer.

This time the man did look up. He frowned and his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion as it seemed to register that Castiel was referring to him. "Me?" he asked, pointing at himself.

"Who the hell else would I be talking to? What are you doing in my apartment?" he shouted.

The man looked very confused now. "You can see me?" he asked incredulously.

Castiel wasn't exactly sure how to reply. "Is there a reason why I shouldn't see you?"

"Uh, well," he floundered, "It's just that, uh…most people can't really…see me, I guess."

"What?" Castiel asked, now very confused.

"Well, I'm sorta…a ghost?" he said uncertainly.

"A ghost?" Castiel asked skeptically, cocking an eyebrow.

"No, seriously," the man claimed, "I really am a ghost."

"Right," he said slowly. "Look, I am willing to chalk all this," he said, waving his hands around, "up to an honest mistake—or maybe a drunk or drug induced one—if you just leave my apartment peacefully."

"Look, I can prove it to you," the man said. He looked around for something, then shrugged and put his arm through the back of the couch. Like, _through_ the couch, his arm passed cleaning through it as if there was nothing there but air.

"Holy shit." Castiel thought he might be feeling a bit faint. "You're a ghost," he squeaked.

The man smiled, very bright and sunny smile, the kind that might have made Castiel blush if he weren't so focused on the ghost's arm, which was _still_ through the couch. The man seemed to notice the staring and he pulled his arm back sheepishly. "The name's Dean."

"Bu–but what're, uh, I mean, just–" Castiel stuttered, staring at the ma—at _Dean_ in bewilderment. "Holy shit," he finished lamely.

Dean smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, um, I don't really know what to do now. No one's every really seen me before," he said, almost…excitedly?

"Oh," Castiel replied, stumbling towards and sitting in the armchair without taking his eyes off Dean. "Well, um, I–" he couldn't seem to form any words as he sat and stared a few minutes. Then he gaze turned sharp and angry. "You've been haunting my apartment!" he accused, but continued before Dean could speak. "This whole time I've been blaming it on my cats, but you're the one who's been braking things and making noises and scaring my cats."

Dean looked sheepish as he looked toward the ground and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, not _everything,_ I mean, five cats are bound to make some noise, but yeah, pretty much."

"Well, why?" he asked angrily.

"Um…boredom?" he offered. He shrank a bit under Castiel's piercing gaze. "Look, I'm kinda tied to this apartment and there's not much to do as a ghost other than haunt the current residents, okay? And it always worked with everyone else." He muttered the last part angrily.

Castiel let out a deep sigh. "I…guess it must be hard to be a ghost."

"You have no idea," Dean immediately started spouting. "It _sucks._ I mean, I can't eat or drink or sleep and technology doesn't really work for me so I never have anything to do except read, but I can't do that with you in the room or at night when it's dark and it's so _lonely._ There's nobody to talk to or interact with, in fact, your cats have been a bit of a blessing because they can see me so I can interact with them, but even still they're just cats, you know? And— Well, that's probably more information than you needed, it's just been so long since I've talked to somebody. At least, talked when I knew they could hear."

"Right, so. I guess you're not going anywhere then," Castiel said, feeling very overwhelmed.

"Nope," Dean said, popping the 'p.' "I am here to stay."

Castiel was silent for a few minutes. "So what now?"

"Well, someone's got a new roommate," Dean said with a big smile.

"Alright then," Castiel said.

The true severity of the situation, of living with a _ghost_ , would probably sink in later and he would freak out again, but for now, there wasn't much he could do. Except maybe have a drink—or more than one—and get to know Dean.

His new roommate.

The ghost.

Jesus Christ, how was this his life.

* * *

Notes: Thank you for reading, comments are much appreciated. :)

Dean and Cas will return, so please follow for more updates, though I don't know how long it will be before the next one.

Also, this story is posted on Ao3 where it has pictures of Cas' cats, so if you wanna see them, use this link archiveofourown works / 11936928, or you can search the story and it's titled The First Meeting and under the same username.


	2. Chapter 2 - A Day in the Life

Notes: I meant to update this sooner, but two things happened.

1) School started last week, so for the last two weeks I've been dealing with that and I've had a lot of homework and the week before that I was doing a bunch of last minute summer homework.

2) I couldn't come up with anything for this chapter. I've got like eight more parts planned out, but I needed this chapter first to establish a relationship between Dean and Cas and I couldn't think of anything, so eventually I decided on doing a few little moments between them and some world-building.

Anyways, enjoy.

* * *

"Sanders, come on, just get in the carrier," Castiel pleaded as he struggled to shove his squirming cat into a cat carrier. "I know it's not fun, but it's just once a year."

Finally, he got Sanders into the carrier and he shut the door. There was quiet snickering coming from the couch and Castiel turned a sharp glare towards Dean who was trying not to laugh. "You could've helped, you know," he snapped.

"You looked like you had it covered," Dean said, raising his hands placatingly.

"I should've made you do it. My arms are all scratched up, but you're a ghost, you can't get scratched. _I_ could be the one sitting back and laughing at _your_ struggles." Dean just smiled.

Castiel had been living with Dean for almost two weeks, or at least, knowingly living with Dean, his ghost roommate. They first few days were a little rough, but Castiel had adjusted. It was both strange and not strange to live with Dean. On one hand, he was pretty normal and acted like any other person, but on the other hand, Castiel had yet to get used to him sticking his limbs through solid objects, floating through the walls, him floating in general.

But as far as roommates go, Dean wasn't too bad. He didn't make a bunch of noise, he would never have people over, he didn't make a mess, he didn't eat all the food, he didn't have a bunch of crap taking up space. Castiel's only real complaint was that Dean was kinda chatty and didn't give him much peace, but after eight years of not being able to talk to anyone, he understood Dean's need for company. And if he was being honest, he was a bit of a loner and he liked having someone to talk to.

So far, they had no idea why Castiel could see Dean or what had caused the change. They had tested it out and nobody else, aside from his cats and other animals, could see Dean. And really, aside from what Dean had figured out over the years, they really knew very little about Dean's condition at all.

Then, Sanders let out a pathetic sounding wail from inside the carrier. "I know, I know, I hate the vet just as much as you do, but you're lucky, you only have to go once a year, I have to go at least five times every year," Castiel told his cat.

"And why do you hate the vet so much, Cas?" Dean joked.

"The receptionist makes me…uncomfortable," he replied.

"Why? She got a bad eye or something?"

"No," he said, wringing his hands, "she always tries to…to flirt with me," he admits.

Dean raised an eyebrow. "That's it?" he scoffs. "Come on, Cas, I know you said you're not very good with people, but surely even you can handle a little light flirting."

"No, Dean, you don't understand," Castiel said. "When she flirts…it's not like when your waitress flirts with you for a bigger tip, it's more like…when you see the creepy people on tv shows who make scrapbooks of you and your future children with photoshop," he explains. "And it's just with me. I've seen her deal with other costumers and she's weird, but not writing-Mrs.-Becky-Novak-over-and-over-again-in-her-diary weird."

Dean tries to hide his laugh, but Castiel knows he's trying to picture him dealing with a creepy receptionist. Castiel rolls his eyes. "Have you tried telling her you're not interested?" Dean asks.

"Well, not so directly, no, but I feel I've made it very clear on multiple occasions that I'm not interested, even going so far as to mention that I had a boyfriend. I could probably tell her I have a husband or a wife and it wouldn't deter her."

"Sometimes there's no stopping the crazy ones," Dean agreed, still snickering.

"Yeah, whatever," Castiel grumbled. He picked up Sanders' cage. "I'm off."

"Good luck," Dean called after him as he shut the door behind him.

* * *

A few hours later, Castiel was coming back up the stairs, Sanders' carrier in hand. "See, just like every year, that wasn't so bad, was it? I'm pretty sure I had it worse than you." He felt like he needed a shower after dealing Becky, even though it was only a few minutes when he had to drop Sanders off and pick him back up again.

He opened his door to an odd sight. Dean was standing on the couch, facing the kitchen, one foot on the back of the couch, holding Mabel under the arms above his head, frozen, as if Castiel wouldn't be able to see him if he remained perfectly still.

"Dean," Castiel said.

"Cas," he replied, as if he wasn't doing anything strange.

Castiel sighed. "Are you trying to do the scene from the Lion King?"

"No," he said defensively, even though that's clearly what he was doing.

"Then what, exactly, are you doing?" Castiel asked.

"Um…there was a bug," he said, still in the same position. "And Mabel was trying to get it, but it flew to the ceiling so I was lifting her up so she could get it."

"Okay," is all Castiel said. He wanted to say more, but he's done the same thing with his cats so he didn't have much room to argue. So instead, he set down the carrier and kneeled down to let Sanders out while Dean sheepishly got off the couch and put Mabel down.

* * *

"Man, I miss food," Dean exclaimed, watching enviously as Castiel ate his dinner.

"I know, you say that every time I eat food," he replied, continuing to eat without remorse.

* * *

"Draw four."

"Goddammit, you asshole," Dean exclaimed. Castiel only smiled. "I wouldn't've suggested we play this if I knew you'd be so good at it," he grumbled, draw cards from the stack.

"I don't think someone can be good at Uno, I think it's just a matter of luck," Castiel replied, amused.

"Well, you won the last two games and I'm pretty sure you're gonna win this one too, so…" he trailed off bitterly.

They continued putting cards down in silence for a few moments before Castiel spoke. "Dean, can I ask you something personal?" he asked hesitantly.

Dean raised a questioning eyebrow. "Sure."

"Well…I know you said you don't know why you're a ghost, and well, I've been wanting to ask this for a little while, but I wasn't sure if it might be too personal, but I figured, what the heck? So, I've been doing a little bit of research—and I'm sure you know this—but in a lot of popular lore, ghosts stick around because they have unfinished business. So, do you have any…unfinished business?"

Dean was silent for a moment. "I don't know," he said eventually. "I mean, I've thought about it before, but I can't really think of anything in particular that would keep me here. I mean, I was in the middle of my life, but nothing seemed so pressing that it would keep me from eternal rest."

"Hm," was all Castiel responded with. "So, what were the previous tenants like?" he asked, changing the topic.

"What?"

"Well you've complained about the people that have lived here, but you've never actually told me much about them."

"Oh, well. Um…the first person to rent the apartment moved in was a woman, mid-30's. She was really boring, but she was gone most of the day and had a big selection of books so it wasn't awful. I had been a ghost for about 7 months at that point, but I was still learning and testing the waters. I think she moved less because she was scared and more because she got a better job offer somewhere else," he said sheepishly. "Then, there was a young couple, and I think I might have gone a bit over board with the whole ghost thing 'cause they only stayed half as long. Then after that was an old lady. She stayed a little over a year, then went to a nursing home."

"You couldn't scare an old lady?" Castiel asked.

"I _didn't_ scare the old lady, alright?" he corrected. "I wasn't going to be responsible for causing her a heart attack, that's why I didn't haunt her, not because I couldn't."

"Oh," Castiel said, surprised. "Color's green."

"Damn," Dean muttered. "Why are you so surprised?"

"Well, it's just—I guess most ghosts seem like they wouldn't be discriminant about who they haunt."

"Just because I'm a ghost doesn't mean I don't have a conscience," he said, slightly offended while putting a card down.

"No, I didn't mean— I know you're a nice ghost…ish" he added, shooting a glare to remind Dean of what he did before Castiel could see him. "I just never really thought about it before. Uno!" he exclaimed right before Dean could.

"God _dammit_! You know what? Fuck you," Dean said angrily while drawing a card. Castiel laughed.

"Alright, so what about the other tenants?" he asked.

"Well, after the old lady, it was a while before someone else moved in, but it was two college kids and they thought a haunted apartment was the coolest thing ever so it took some work and few minor injuries to get them out."

"Minor injuries?" Castiel asked skeptically.

"Just a few bruises, nothing serious," he defended. "Anyways, after that was an older guy, a high school teacher. I almost felt bad about haunting him, so I took it kinda easy on him. Also, he had a dog that could see me so that was kinda nice. And finally, the people who lived here before you were a couple in their late 20's, and they were annoying. They weren't married and they fought all the time then made up with really loud sex. They were only here for four months, they left after I caused the guy to pee his pants."

Castiel started laughing at Dean's proud tone and Dean joined in. "That's awful."

"I know, but it was so funny and the girl got so mad at him for being so scared," Dean said through laughter.

Once they calmed down, he said, "I'm glad you're here now, Cas."

Castiel smiled in return. "Me too." It was true, he really liked Dean and enjoyed his company, more than he was maybe ready to admit. He looked back down at the cards in his hands and smiled again. "I win," he said, putting down his last two cards which were both eights.

"What, but— Shit."

* * *

Castiel tossed and turned a bit in his bed before blearily blinking his eyes open. It was still nighttime and the only light in the room was a little moonlight coming through the windows. But it was enough to see the figure that was staring at him a few feet from his face. "Jesus Christ!" he shouted when he noticed, sitting straight up, his heart pounding. Then he saw that it was Dean.

Dean laughed sheepishly. "Only me."

" _Fuck._ What are you _doing?_ "

"Well," Dean started, not looking Castiel in the eyes. "Um…I don't really sleep, so I don't have anything to do at night and your cats are asleep so sometimes I…watch you sleep?" he offered. "To be fair, you're a pretty restless sleeper and there's not much to do."

It took a moment for Castiel to process because his mind was still groggy. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"What?" That was not the response he was expecting.

"As long as my door is closed and you keep the noise level down, I don't care what you do," he said, getting out of bed and walking towards the living room.

"Huh?" said Dean, floating after him.

Castiel flipped the light on and yawned. "Yeah, you can read or play cards or whatever or I can leave the tv on for you at night. You should've said something, I never even thought about what you do a night."

"Really?" Dean asked hopefully.

"Of course, Dean, you won't wake me up," he promised.

Dean beamed at him. "Thanks, Cas."

Castiel smiled sleepily at him.

"So, could you turn the tv on for me?"

"Of course."

Dean had discovered early on that ghosts and technology don't mix and the newer the tech the worse it was. Standing too close to the tv made it turn to static and lose signal, going through the tv permanently screwed it up, as he had learned with one of the previous tenants so he tried to be careful. Castiel's tv was kinda old and the remote was finnicky with him. Sometimes it worked—with difficulty—and sometimes it didn't, so mostly, it was better to just let Castiel deal with it.

Life was much better with Castiel. He didn't have to stop doing things when Castiel got home. And Castiel had gotten him Netflix so he could binge watch shows during the day without ever touching the remote so he wouldn't be bored. And most of all he enjoyed the company. After eight years of almost solitude, it was amazing to finally talk to someone who could hear and talk back.

"Thanks, Cas," he said when Castiel finished setting up the tv for him.

"It's no problem, Dean. Goodnight," he said and retreated back to his room, shutting the door behind him.

Dean watched him leave with a warm smile on his face.

* * *

Notes: Thank you for reading, comments and kudos are much appreciated. :)

So, like I said in my earlier note, I've got more planned out so I should be able to update sooner, but it really depends on school, so no promises.


	3. Chapter 3 - Sam's Visit

Notes: Sorry this update took so long. I wish I had a good excuse, bit it's been mostly a lack of motivation. I will try to get the next part of the story written faster.

* * *

Castiel looked around at his apartment, mind still groggy with sleep. "Dean, did you...clean the apartment?"

Not that the apartment was usually messy, but now it was spotless. Not a thing was out of place and not a speck of dust could be seen.

Dean looked up sheepishly from where he was doing a puzzle on the couch. "Maybe?"

"It's...nice," Castiel said, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. He walked to the kitchen to fix some breakfast.

"Yeah, well, you know, I just wanted it to look nice and clean and stuff for Sam," he said, embarrassed.

Castiel smiled. "You should clean more often when you get bored," he joked and Dean relaxed. "Any idea what time he's coming?"

"Not really, but probably not 'till the afternoon."

Castiel watched Dean while fixing a bowl of cereal. He was tapping his foot and squirming impatiently. Castiel went to sit next to him and tried to carefully broach the topic that Dean had been so dismissive of the past few days.

"You know, you could always-"

" _Don't_ ," Dean stopped him. "Just don't say it," he said shortly, feet no longer bouncing in anticipation.

Castiel sighed. According to Dean, Sam came to the apartment every year on the day of Dean's death and asked the tenant if he could come in and pay respects. Most people, under the spell of his supposed "puppy dog eyes," let him in. Only one year was he turned away and one year the apartment was vacant.

But this year was different because this year Castiel could see Dean. More importantly, he could tell Sam that Dean was still around. But Dean had flat out refused the first time Castiel brought it up and quickly changed the topic every other time it was brought up.

"Dean, I just don't understand why you don't want to talk with Sam. If it's just a matter of privacy, I don't even have to be there, we can get you paper and a pencil and you and Sam can reunite. I know how much he means to you, so why?" Castiel asked cautiously.

"Because!" Dean shouted, turning on him. "Because...because Sam doesn't need that," he continued in a quieter and resigned voice. "I died nine years ago. Sam has been living without me in his life for _nine years_ , he's moved on, he's better now. If I come back, it's gonna bring back all the painful memories and he'll be stuck with the guilt that I'm stuck here and he can't see me and there's nothing he can do about it."

Castiel was silent for moment. "I understand where you're coming from, but he comes to this apartment every year, where he may or may not be let in, to spend some time with absolute strangers, just to be in the place where you died, rather than visiting your grave like a normal person. That doesn't sound like he's moved on to me. And I think anybody that loves you that much would be better off knowing you're here and being able to talk to you."

Dean let out a huff. He didn't say anything, just sulked quietly for a few minutes before standing and walking away through the wall. Castiel rolled his eyes at Dean's antics but didn't push the topic because he knew how emotional it was for Dean.

Dean would probably be sulking in the extra room, which he had claimed for himself whenever he wanted some alone time, for the rest of the day. He grabbed his laptop from his room and settled back on the couch to start working. Being an editor at a small publishing firm meant he could do most of his work from home. Before, he almost never took advantage of this, preferring the quiet of his small office, but ever since Dean came along he found himself at home much more often.

But today he almost wished for the peace his office would bring because he was feeling very stressed. He was basically waiting for Sam to show up, which could be at any time. Then he was gonna have to entertain Sam-not that he thought he would dislike Sam, he just wasn't good at socializing with new people, especially without a buffer.

However, he was also excited to meet Sam. He didn't know much about him, only what Dean had told him, which wasn't much. He knew Sam was a lawyer, he was really smart, really tall, and he was pretty friendly and easygoing. He sounded like an alright guy and Dean obviously loved him a lot, so Castiel was pretty sure it would be okay.

But this was also a chance to get a glimpse into Dean's life. After all, Sam would probably like to talk about him to someone, and Castiel hoped he would talk to him.

Dean was still new, despite living together for more than two months at this point. He knew the basics of Dean's life-he was a mechanic, single, close with his parents and Sam, had a few close friends-but beyond that he mostly only knew about Dean's life as a ghost. Which made sense, of course, as it had taken up the last nine years of his life, but still. Castiel was pretty sure Dean avoided talking about his life because it made him sad, so he respected that, but this was his chance to learn about Dean from Sam's point of view.

Mabel hopped up on the couch next to him and curled up. Castiel ran a hand over her hair, scratching under her chin. He sighed. "I hope this goes well," he murmured, trying to focus back on his work.

* * *

He ended up waiting a while. It was past three when a knock finally sounded at the door. He hadn't been able to focus on work and had only done a fraction of what he normally would've. Dean had stayed in the spare room all day and Castiel hadn't bothered him, he would know when Sam got here.

Castiel stood up and stretched as Dean came flying through the wall, startling Castiel so badly he almost tripped over Maggie who had also been startled by Dean's sudden appearance.

Dean at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish, but he was too excited for it to last more than a few seconds.

Castiel just smiled, Dean looked like child on Christmas morning.

He walked over and opened the door, and there was man standing there with longish brown hair and a hopeful smile on his face. He was also, as Dean had said, very tall.

Castiel adopted an expression of polite confusion as Sam gave his introduction, remembering that he's not supposed to know who Sam is or why he's here.

"Hi, my name is Sam Winchester, and this is gonna sound kinda weird, but my brother used to live here, and well, he kinda died here too," he said with a nervous chuckle, "And well, I come here every year to, uh, pay my respects and all that, and I was wondering if I could come in for a little while to, well, pay my respects," he paused, looking at Castiel hopefully, and Castiel realized exactly what Dean meant by puppy dog eyes. "I mean, you don't have to let me in, of course, I understand how weird this probably is and I could totally be lying or trying to rob you or something, which I'm not!" he tried to assure, "just, I know this is...weird," he finished awkwardly.

Castiel pretended to think about it for a minute, as immediate acceptance would probably be suspicious, before letting Sam. "Please, come in, take all the time you need."

"Thank you," Sam said with a grateful smile. He walked in slowly, taking in his surroundings. Maggie hopped up on the cat shelf next to Sam's head, startling him a bit, but he smiled and started petting her. "Hi, cutie. Aren't you sweet," he coped.

"That's Maggie, she's a bit of an attention whore when she's in the mood," Castiel said, bringing Sam's attention back to him.

Their interaction was slightly awkward, them being strangers and all, Castiel pushed forward. "Would you like something to drink?" he offered. "I have tea? Coffee? Water?"

"Some tea would be great, thanks," he replied with a small smile.

"Right, well. Please, take a seat," he offered, gesturing to the couch. As he turned toward the kitchen, he made eye contact with Dean who was sitting next to Sam on the couch. Dean smiled briefly at him before returning his attention to his brother.

Castiel was happy. Obviously seeing Sam brought Dean great joy, and he was happy he was able to help.

He quietly fixed a mug of tea for himself and Sam in the kitchen, letting Dean have a few moments with Sam to himself.

After a few minutes, Castiel walked back into the living room with two steaming mugs of tea and handed one to Sam as he sat down next to him on the couch. Whiskers was currently making himself comfortable on Sam's lap and was quite pleased with the attention he was receiving.

"He's beautiful," Sam said, taking a sip of his tea.

"Yeah, but don't let him hear you, it'll go straight to his head," Castiel joked.

"Ain't that the truth," Dean said.

Sam huffed a small laugh, smiling down at the cat.

That's when Mabel jumped up on the coffee table, demanding attention from their visitor. Sam raised his brows in surprise. "How many cats do you have?"

"Five cats, Sam, _five cats_. He has a problem," Dean said. Castiel took a second to glare at Dean while Sam was petting Mabel, but he just smiled innocently. He couldn't help but smile a little too.

Castiel turned back to Sam. "Five," he answered.

Sam choked a bit on his tea. "Five?" he asked incredulously.

" _Right_?" Dean said exasperatedly. Castiel decided he would just ignore Dean's comments.

He smiled at Sam, used to such reactions when people found out how cats he had. "It wasn't intentional."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, I didn't just decide to adopt five cats, stuff just kinda…happened and all of the sudden, I had five cats," Castiel shrugged.

Sam chuckled. "What kind of stuff? How does a person just end up with five cats?"

"Well," he started, preparing to tell the story, "Nine years ago, I adopted Sanders when he was a little kitten. I was twenty-three and had just moved into my own apartment and after about a month, I felt lonely, so I figured a cat was the way to go because they're sweet and loving and also low maintenance."

"Unless you have five of them," Dean chimed in.

"Shut up," Castiel said under his breath.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Nothing." He smiled, trying not to look suspicious. "Anyway, two years later, I adopted Mabel. A friend of mine fosters kittens and she was just so cute and I figured Sanders probably got lonely during the day and could use a friend, so I brought her home. A year after that, my sister moved in with her boyfriend who is allergic to cats, and she knew how much I liked cats and she didn't want to give him up for adoption, so I ended up with Cat Number 3.

"Two years after I got Whiskers, I fell in love with another kitten that my friend was fostering, and that's how I got Maggie. And then one year ago, a coworker of mine was moving and he had decided that cats weren't really his thing and so he wouldn't take his cat with him, but he had the prettiest Russian Blue and I had always wanted one and it was super sweet, so that's how I got Alex and how I ended up with five cats."

Sam chuckled. "Wow. Me and Dean used to share an apartment forever ago and he absolutely _refused_ to let us have any animals in the house."

"Really?" Castiel asked, shooting a look at Dean. He had never raised any complaints about his cats before.

"Oh yeah," Sam claimed. "He was allergic to cats so he didn't want anything to do with them. And then with dogs, well, they were just too hairy, too loud, too energetic, needed too much attention, etc, etc. Whenever I brought up maybe getting one he always found a new excuse for why he didn't like dogs."

Dean pouted while Sam was talking. "I stand by my opinions on dogs," he said.

"Well, some people just don't like animals," Castiel offered, trying not to smile at how much he knew Dean loved the cats, even if he tried to hide it.

"Yeah, but Dean was a big ol' softie. I think he just needed to spend some time with a dog and he woulda been just fine. I always wanted to bring one home because I'm pretty sure Dean wouldn't've made me take it back," Sam said.

Dean looked scandalized. "I _absolutely_ would've made you take it back!"

"But I was going through college, so I didn't have time to take care of a dog, and I didn't want Dean to have to since he didn't want a dog in the first place," Sam continued.

"And what about now?"

"Well, I've got my own apartment now and I have two dogs. An Australian shepherd named Riot and a golden retriever named Bones," Sam answered with a smile.

"That sounds nice. I've always liked dogs and I always planned on having one someday, but then I ended up with five cats and no room for a dog. But it's probably for the best, I'm too lazy to properly take care of one, especially living in an apartment."

"Yeah," he agreed, "I'm kinda, well, Dean would've called me a bit of a fitness freak, so taking the dogs out has never been a problem for me."

A slightly awkward silence fell between them after that as they both sipped their tea.

"Ask him about his life," Dean demanded.

Castiel clenched his jaw. "So, Sam, tell me about yourself," he said, ignoring how lame it sounded.

"What do you want to know?" Sam asked openly.

Castiel opened his mouth. "Anything."

Sam smiled. "Well, there's not a whole to tell, my life's pretty boring. I'm an environmental lawyer, have been for a few years now, and I'm pretty happy with that. Um, I live alone, no one special yet, other than my dogs," he joked. "What about you?"

"Me? Oh, um," he started. "Well, I also live alone. I work as an editor and proof reader at a small publishing firm, and that's pretty cool. It means I can do a lot of work from home and I don't have any real schedule, so that's nice."

"Sounds nice. I mean, I love being a lawyer, but man, sometimes the hours are killer," he complained.

"I told you they be," Dean said.

"Well, it's still impressive. I could never be a lawyer. Way too much work," Castiel said. "So, changing the subject, tell me about your brother, Dean. If it's not too private, of course," he hurried to add, "I realize it must not be the happiest subject."

"Woah, hold up," Dean exclaimed, "Today is to learn about Sam _, not me_."

"No, no, it's not a big deal. I mean, it is a big deal," Sam corrected, "it's just…it was nine years ago, I've had time to heal. I'm not over it by any means, but it's a lot easier to talk about him now."

Castiel smiled sympathetically. "It's hard losing someone important to you."

"Yeah, it is." Sam took a steadying breath and Castiel could see that his eyes were slightly shiny. "Dean was…he was my big brother. He was four years older than me, but when we were children, we were inseparable. Then he started high school, and we grew apart some, just dealing with different things, but Dean always made sure we spent time together every week and he drove me to and from school every day and he just…he never treated me like his lame little brother, you know?" he said with a smile.

"And then he graduated and started working for our uncle as a mechanic and we saw even less of each other. And then I got accepted to Stanford all the way in California, and we were living in Kansas, but it was such a great opportunity and I couldn't pass it up, so I went. And Dean moved with me, to California and we shared an apartment for a while. Then, in my third year of college, he moved to his own apartment, this apartment actually, so my girlfriend could move in with me, but we still made time for each other every week. Then, I got the call," he said quietly, "That my brother had…"

Castiel gave him a minute before speaking. Dean was looking at Sam as if he was about to cry, but he didn't think ghosts could cry. "It sounds like he was a great brother."

"Yeah, he was. He was the best," Sam said with a shaky smile. "I mean, we didn't always get along, we were pretty different. I was more the quiet, nerdy bookworm type where Dean was the type to skip school to make out with people and he loved his car more than just about anything and he was kinda loud and obnoxious, but I don't know, it just…worked between us."

Castiel smiled.

"Hey, ask him about my baby," Dean said, looking concerned.

Ah, the car. Castiel had heard about the car. He had listened to Dean rave about the Impala on numerous occasions and about how much he missed driving her and working on her. "You said he loved his car, what happened to it?"

"Oh, the car, yeah," Sam said, nodding his head. "A black, 1967 Chevy Impala. She was his pride and joy. He would barely let anybody touch her. It's back in Kansas now, with our uncle Bobby. He says he tries to drive once a week or so and he still does maintenance on her. Originally, she was offered to me, but I couldn't give her the care she needed and she's a bit of a gas guzzler, so I turned her down."

"I suppose that is...satisfactory," Dean commented, not entirely happy with his car's fate.

There was one more question that Castiel wanted to ask about Dean, something he had wanted to know for a while, but Dean refused to tell him. "So, if it's not too inappropriate to ask, how did he die?"

"No! No, no, no, that's cheating!" Dean exclaimed, standing up. "Sam, don't answer."

Normally, Castiel would respect someone's privacy and not pry about things they clearly don't want to talk about. But this was different. If Dean didn't want to talk about his death because it was traumatic and emotional, he would've left it alone, but Dean didn't talk about it because it was embarrassing.

Notes: Sorry this update took so long. I wish I had a good excuse, bit it's been mostly a lack of motivation. I will try to get the next part of the story written faster.

Every time Castiel brought it up, Dean flat out refused to say a word about it and he was pretty sure that if ghosts could blush, Dean would be bright red. So, while he felt a little bad about using Sam to find out, his curiosity outweighed the guilt.

Sam chuckled at the question and Castiel tried not to look to eager. "Well, it's ah...it's, he um," Sam stopped to smile. "He slipped in the shower."

Dean was pouring furiously and glaring at Sam and Castiel was trying not to laugh, though more at Dean's reaction than him slipping in the shower.

"It's okay, you can laugh," Sam said, chuckling. "I mean, I certainly wasn't laughing when it first happened, but...I do now."

"No, I'm sorry," Castiel said, chuckling as well, "It's just that, it's...it's nothing. Besides, there are worse ways to go."

"That's true," Sam said, a smile on his face.

"So what, I slipped in the shower, real funny," Dean pouted. "Don't forget that I _died_ , you bastards."

They end up talking for almost another two hours, Castiel asking all of Dean's questions, Dean frequently making comments. He got to know Sam very well and some of Dean's questions were probably a little too invasive for someone he just met, but Sam answered them anyway. Eventually, he said he had to go home and feed his dogs and Castiel walked him to the door.

"Thank you, for letting me come in and hang out today, even though I'm a total stranger," Sam said sincerely.

"It's no problem, I could see today was important to you," Castiel replied.

"Still, I know it's an odd request, but you're right, it is important, so thank you. Maybe I'll see you again next year."

"Yeah, maybe," Castiel said with a smile.

With a smile and a nod, Sam turned and started walking down the hallway toward the elevator. Dean stood next him, watching Sam leave and right before he turned the corner, Castiel called out. "Sam."

Sam paused and turned around. "Yeah?"

"I don't know what you believe in or anything, but wherever your brother is, I think he'd be happy to know you still care so much."

Sam smiled. "Thank you, Castiel." And with that he turned the corner and left.

Castiel went back inside and shut the door behind him. He turned around just in time for Dean to pull him into a tight hug.

Hugging Dean was...weird, in a word. He didn't have a texture and he didn't feel solid, exactly, but Castiel could definitely feel him. He was like a wall of air, like if air could be solid, that would be Dean. He knew Dean could touch things, hold things, but he had never tried to touch Dean himself, always assuming his hand would pass right through him.

After taking in these new facts he realized Dean was still holding him tightly and he tentatively returned the hug by wrapping his arms around Dean's waist.

"Thank you," Dean whispered in his ear.

"You're welcome, Dean," he whispered back.

* * *

Notes: Thanks for reading, comments and kudos are much appreciated. :)

This chapter was kinda fun to write, but also kinda annoying because I kept forgetting Dean was there so I would have to go back and write him in a little. Also, I spent way too much time figuring out the timeline for the cats.

Also, I know the premise for Sam's visit is a little unrealistic, but I couldn't think of anything better and it's setting up for future parts.

If you're curious about the ages, Castiel is 32, Sam is 31, and Dean is 35 (he died at 26, so that's how he looks).

I hope you like Gabriel because the next part will have a lot of Gabriel.


	4. Chapter 4 - Gabriel the House Sitter

Note: Sorry for not updating this story in so long! I don't really have a good excuse, but school has kept me fairly busy the past few months, but now all my exams are over so I should have a lot more free time during and after school to write, so I hope to get this story written faster.

* * *

"So, their food is at the bottom of the pantry and they each get one scoop in the morning and one scoop at night and-"

"Add half a bag of wet food to each bowl at night," Gabriel interrupted. "I know, I know, jeez Cassie. This isn't the first time I've looked after your cats. And I have a cat of my own if you hadn't noticed," he said, emphasizing the fluffy Himalayan cat in his arms.

"No, I know, and you take very good care of Catalie, but it's just the first time you've taken care of my cats in this apartment," he said carefully.

"What's different about the apartment?" Gabriel asked, letting Catalie Portman hop down and sniff around.

"Nothing, just you know, new environment," he lied, he couldn't say the real reason he was worried.

Said reason was sitting on the back of the couch, watching the exchange with boredom. Castiel glanced at him discreetly and sighed.

"Bro, you worry too much," Gabriel said, bringing Castiel's attention back to him. "Everything will be fine, the cats get along, I know how to take care of them, and if I have a question, I'll call you, alright? What could go wrong?"

Castiel wanted to sigh again. "Nothing. I probably am worrying too much." That was a lie. A lot could go wrong and Castiel wasn't sure if he was worrying enough.

If he had his way, Gabriel wouldn't be here at all while Castiel went away for the weekend to a friend's wedding. After all, Dean was perfectly capable of taking care of the cats. But during one of their weekly bonding sessions, Gabriel had asked if he had someone watching the cats and he was distracted by reading the menu and had replied "no" just before realizing what he said. It was too late though, Gabriel immediately jumped on it and volunteered his services and refused to be persuaded otherwise.

It wasn't that Gabriel couldn't take care of them, in fact, he normally did take care of them when needed, but Castiel didn't want him alone in the apartment all weekend with Dean. Dean had promised he wouldn't do anything, but Castiel didn't believe him for a second. Dean would get bored within a few hours and start messing with Gabriel, he just hoped that his apartment would be left undamaged.

"Look, just," Castiel took a deep breath, "if anything... _weird_ happens, just...blame it on the cats, okay?" He felt bad about throwing his cats under the bus, but better than explaining Dean. They had both decided it was best that he remain a secret.

"Weird? Like what? I thought your cats had backed off the weird stuff after the first few weeks after they adjusted," Gabriel said.

"Yeah, they did, just, I don't know, Gabe. Look, nothing weird _should_ happen," he said, sending a glare to Dean who just rolled his eyes, "but if it does, it's the cats, okay?" he pleaded.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow but agreed. "Well, Cas, you better get going if you don't want to be late to Hannah's wedding."

"It's not 'till tomorrow."

"But you don't want to get to the hotel super late and oversleep," Gabriel argued.

Castiel rolled his eyes but smiled. "Right. Well, I'm off, so just...good luck," he said, sending one last weary look at Dean before leaving.

Gabriel turned back around and looked at the cats which were in various parts of the room. "Looks like it's just us now. But don't worry, because we're going to have a lot of fun," he said grinning.

Meanwhile, Dean, still sitting on the couch, was smiling mischievously.

* * *

Gabriel startled awake at a loud noise in the apartment. He sat up groggily, pulling off his sleep mask and looking around. There was another loud thump in the apartment.

Carefully, quietly, he slid out of the bed and felt around on the ground, all the while keeping his eyes on the closed door. His hand finally felt what it was looking for and Gabriel grasped the baseball bat tightly. Slowly he walked towards the door and opened it, trying not to make any noise.

He heard another thump.

He crept towards the front of the apartment, bat poised and ready to strike at any moment. His heart was pounding in his chest and really hoped that it was just Castiel, returning because he forgot something.

As he reached the light switch to the living room at the end of the hallway he took a breath and flicked it on. The apartment flooded with light as he jumped forward, bat raised high, mouth open and ready to yell at any intruder, but as he looked around, no one was there. The apartment was empty except for him.

He cautiously lowered the bat and walked further into the living room. He looked all around and gave a cursory glance in the kitchen, but all he saw were the cats.

Sander looked down at him from atop the tv cabinet with big eyes.

"Well, Cassie did say you might do weird things," he said to the cat. "But, jeez, you guys scared me. Guess you guys just got a little rambunctious, huh?" he teased, looking around.

The cats that he could see just stared back at him. "Right. Well, keep the noise to a minimum 'till the morning, yeah?"

He walked back to the bedroom and shut the door behind him. He put the bat back under the bed and promptly fell asleep, not thinking anymore on the incident.

* * *

It was Saturday afternoon and Gabriel was sitting on the small balcony overlooking a small patch of trees. It was peaceful, with only the occasional chirping of birds and he was almost asleep, lulled into a midafternoon nap. But then there was a crash and what sounded like something fragile breaking.

Gabriel cursed and hurried to investigate. He walked into the kitchen where he found the ceramic bowl he had used for breakfast in three pieces on the floor. He cursed some more as he bent down to collect the pieces, glad that it had been a clean break and easy to clean up. He looked around, trying to find the culprit, but he couldn't see any of the cats. He shook it off though, figuring the noise had probably scared them off.

"First last night, then my orange juice this morning, and now this," Gabriel muttered under his breath. "Are you always like this?" he asked the air around him.

"Only when I'm bored," Dean replied from where he was sitting on the counter. Of course, Gabriel didn't hear this response, but he did feel the slightest chill up his back, causing him to look around suspiciously.

* * *

Right as Gabriel was getting into bed that night, a picture frame suddenly fell from the nightstand, landing right on his foot. "Fuck!" he cursed.

He whipped around to find the furry culprit that was responsible for his pain, but there was no cat in sight. They had all been in the living room last he checked, but just in case he quickly made his way back to the living room to check again.

He counted all six lounging in various places, none looking like they had moved in the last few minutes. Gabriel walked back to the bedroom and looked at the picture frame on the floor. He picked it up and set it back in its place before climbing back into bed. "I probably just bumped it," he murmured, though he was very sure he had not bumped it.

* * *

By Sunday night, Gabriel was positive that Castiel's apartment was haunted.

There had been more bumps in the night and things knocked over and the lights and the tv had started flickering a bit as well, and there was no way the cats had been responsible for every single weird occurrence. Most of the time the cats were nowhere near the what was happening.

Not to mention the occasional chill he got.

Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and dialed Castiel's number into the phone and waited for him to pick up, panicking only slightly.

"Gabriel? What's wrong?" came Castiel's concerned voice.

"I think your apartment is haunted," he exclaimed without preamble into the phone. He was currently pacing in the living, looking around for any signs of a ghost.

" _What?_ " Castiel asked sharply.

"There's been a bunch of strange shit happening and it is definitely not cats," he explained hurriedly, "I don't know why this ghost hasn't been bothering you lately, but it's going nuts right now."

He could hear Castiel take a deep breath. "Gabriel. There are no ghosts," he said, sounding weary. "I'm sure you're just paranoid and letting your imagination get the best of you."

"Cas, I am definitely not imagining this. I swear to God, I feel a _presence_. There is somebody here besides me."

"Well, with six cats I would hope you feel multiple presences."

"Don't make fun of me! I already told you it's not the cats," Gabriel exclaimed.

Castiel sighed. "Alright look, Gabe. I'll be home tomorrow morning and I'll check it out then. So just survive one more night in the 'haunted' apartment, then you can leave and not worry about it."

"But Cas! I can't spend the night knowing there's a ghost!"

"Has the ghost tried to hurt you?" he asked, trying to sound sympathetic, but coming across more annoyed than anything else.

"Well, it dropped a picture frame on my foot last night."

"Anything more serious than that?"

"...No."

"Look, if it wanted to hurt you, it would've by now. He's probably just messing with you for fun."

"He?"

" _It._ I meant it. Anyway, not the point. Suck it up, go to bed, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Cas, wait—" Gabriel said, but he had hung up. "Rude."

He put his phone away and looked around. "Alright, Ghosty, here's the deal. I don't know if you just don't like me, or you're mad that Cas left, or whatever. But he'll be back tomorrow, and I'll be gone so let's agree to a truce 'till tomorrow morning, alright? So, stop the creepy noises at night so I can sleep," he called out to where he assumed the ghost was.

Confident that he had gotten his point across he walked down the hallway to the bedroom. As he walked into the room, there was a loud thump behind him that caused him to jump and let out an undignified shriek. He slammed the door behind him and hunkered down under the blankets, hoping to be left alone for the night.

* * *

Gabriel was tired when he woke up the next morning to cats scratching at the door and meowing. He'd had trouble falling asleep last night, his heart jumping at every little noise, though most of it was caused by the upstairs neighbor. He had eventually fallen asleep, but it was a restless one, with lots of tossing and turning.

He hauled himself out of bed and opened the door and the cats immediately started swarming his legs, making it hard to walk straight. "I know, I know, you're hungry and I'm late with feeding you, jeez."

After feeding the cats he made the bed and packed up his and Catalie's stuff so he would be ready to leave the moment Castiel got back. He ate a bowl of cereal and sat on the couch and waited for Castiel to get back.

And waited. And waited. Thankfully, without disruption from the ghost.

Finally, he could hear a key turning the lock and he bounded up to greet Castiel.

"Cassie!" he exclaimed, as Castiel walked through the door, pulling his suitcase behind him.

"Hello, Gabriel," he replied, much more calmly.

"Alright, well, the cats have been fed and they've been good all weekend, but now that you're here, I'll be going," he said in a rush, trying to get Catalie into her carrier, though she was evidently not happy about it.

Eventually he succeeded and with Catalie safely in her carrier he grabbed his bag, gave Castiel a kiss on the cheek, and walked out the apartment.

"Gabriel—"

"Have fun with your ghost, Cassie!" he called, waving a hand before disappearing around the corner.

Castiel watched him go before shutting the door and turning to Dean who was laying on the couch with a pleased smile. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Dean replied innocently.

"That's such an obvious lie, but I can figure what you did," he said with a disapproving eye. "Though I told you not to do anything."

"But it's so boring when only the cats can see me," he complained.

Castiel sighed. He was doing that a lot lately. "Well, I suppose it's too late to do anything about it now. But if Gabe ever comes over again, no more ghost stuff, alright?"

"Fine," he relented.

Castiel didn't believe him for a second.

* * *

Note: Thanks for reading, comments are much appreciated. :)

I don't know when the next part will be out, hopefully a lot sooner than this one, but not too soon because I have another work that I've been neglecting that I want to work on first.


	5. Chapter 5 - Date Night

"Dean, what is wrong with you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dean said. He was sitting on the couch, Mabel curled up in his lap, enjoying the attention. Dean was resolutely looking down at the cat and undeniably pouting.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Castiel said, staring down at him. "You've barely spoken all day and you keep avoiding me and you're definitely pouting."

"I'm not pouting!" Dean exclaimed, finally looking up at Castiel. "I'm not pouting," he said again, quieter.

Castiel raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure what had put Dean in such a foul mood, but he didn't really feel like dealing with it right then. "Whatever. I'm going to go get ready, I'll be leaving in 20 minutes."

* * *

Dean watched as Castiel walked down the hallway into the bedroom. He turned back to Mabel, scratching under her chin, but with a frown on his face. "I'm not pouting," he told her, "I have no reason to pout, just because Cas is going on a date. He's allowed to go on dates if he wants, it's got nothing to do with me."

He grumbled as he heard the sounds of Cas getting ready. Cas had been asked out by a female coworker yesterday and tonight they were going to dinner.

Dean could feel himself getting worked up thinking about it. He clenched his fists, wishing he could feel the pain from his nails to ground him. He clenched his fists tighter, trying desperately to feel anything, even the slightest tingle. He scowled as he released his grip and stretched out his fingers. He couldn't feel a thing.

He slumped down, running a hand absentmindedly down Mabel's back as she purred. He stared at the tv, stared at the blackness. He looked down at the remote. He slowly reached a hand towards it, but his fingers had barely brushed it when the screen started glitching and turned into a pixelated mess. "Dammit," he cursed quietly, recoiling his hand and watching as the screen turned back to normal before fading to black.

Dean scowled at his hand. _If only I wasn't…_ he thought angrily. He sighed, shoulders slumping. "Not that it would make a difference anyway."

* * *

Castiel buttoned up his shirt, looking in the mirror. He patted down his hair, wondering if he should do something with it, maybe gel it down? He decided to leave it.

He let out a sigh. His stomach was roiling a bit, but he found he wasn't really all that nervous. He was...excited. At least, that's what he told himself, after all, it had been years since he last been on a date. And Anna was pretty and smart, and clearly interested in him.

He sighed again, giving himself one last once over before grabbing his coat and leaving the bedroom. He grabbed his car keys from the kitchen and looked to where Dean was sitting on the couch, facing away from him. "I'm leaving now," he called out. "I'll be back in a few hours."

Dean merely raised his hand in acknowledgement but didn't react otherwise. Castiel ignored the small pang in chest at Dean's reaction. He had been upset all day and Castiel wasn't really sure why. At first he thought maybe it because he was going on a date and he was jealous, but Castiel quickly squashed that line of thought. He was probably annoyed because if Castiel got a girlfriend, she wouldn't be able to see him and Castiel would have to pretend not to see him and would have less time for him and would have to lie about him and it would just be complicated.

Sparing one last glance at Dean he walked out the door, locking it behind him. He rode the elevator down to the lobby, then walked out into the parking lot. He settled down into his car and just paused for a moment.

He didn't want to go on this date. Anna was sweet, but Castiel just wasn't interested. He wanted to be, he really wished he was, but he just wasn't. "Why am I doing this? Why did I agree to a date?" he asked himself, though he knew the answer.

He liked Dean. He really liked Dean. Really, _really_ liked Dean. But there was nothing he could do about it. Dean didn't like him back and Castiel would never tell Dean his feelings and burden him with them. He didn't deserve that.

Castiel was his only friend. The only person that could see him and interact with him and it would be unfair to tell him how he felt when he couldn't leave the apartment or avoid Castiel without giving up his only company. It wasn't fair when Castiel had all the freedom in the world, but Dean was trapped by circumstances beyond his control.

So now he was going on a date, hoping that maybe he could be interested in Anna, or at least see if he could grow to be interested in her. Wasn't that what dating was all about? Still, he felt a little guilty because he knew Anna genuinely liked him, but he was just using her to get over someone else. Something he wasn't sure was possible right now. But it was fine if he really did grow to like her, right?

Castiel groaned, starting the car. He drove off to go pick up his date.

* * *

Castiel drove Anna home, only half paying attention to the story she was telling. He felt bad, but he couldn't stop thinking about Dean and how much more he would've enjoyed this date had they gone as friends and without the romantic pretense.

"Cas?" Anna asked, interrupting his train of thought. They had pulled up in front of her house.

"Yes?"

"You're not really having much fun, are you?" she asked with a sad smile.

"No, I really enjoyed tonight," he rushed to assure her.

Evidently he wasn't very convincing going by the look on her face. "But not the way you're supposed to enjoy a date, right?"

"Well…" He wanted to deny it. He wanted to say he had a lot of fun and wanted to go on another date. Instead he says, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Cas. I can tell you've been thinking about someone else all night," she said, smirking slightly.

Castiel blushed. "N–No, I wasn't."

Anna smiled knowingly. "Well, whoever they are, I hope it works out for you."

"I...thanks," he said, giving up the pretense of protesting. "But I don't think it will."

"Well, you never know," Anna said. "Anyways, I should go. I hope we can go out again, but maybe this time as friends?"

Castiel smiled at her. "I would like that."

Anna smiled back at him. She leaned over and kissed his cheek, then got out of the car. "See you tomorrow, Cas," she said with a small wave, walking back into her house.

Castiel waited until she had gotten safely inside before driving back home.

* * *

Castiel walked through the door back into his apartment with a yawn. "I'm back," he called out, but received no answer. He sighed, putting his keys back on the rack in the kitchen and slowly unbuttoning his shirt, walking towards his room. He changed into sweatpants and an old t-shirt before emerging back into the living room.

He found Dean sitting on the couch this time, petting Sanders who was sitting next to him. Dean turned towards him but still kept his eyes down. "So...how did it go?" he asked, though tried not to sound to interested.

"It went alright," Castiel said. "The restaurant was nice."

"So, are you going to see each other again?" he asked, finally looking at Castiel. He looked reluctant, like he didn't really want to know the answer.

"No," Castiel said slowly, "We decided we're better as friends."

"Really?" he asked, brightening up considerably. "I–I mean," he started, trying to school his expression into something more sympathetic. "That kinda sucks, you seemed excited about it."

"Hmm," Castiel considered a moment before smiling. "Not really, I just thought it would be nice if it worked out."

"Yeah, well...you know. There are more fish in the sea and all that," he said.

"That's true," Castiel agreed. "Well, I'm going to bed now. Goodnight, Dean."

Dean smiled. "Goodnight, Cas."

* * *

Notes:Thank you for reading, comments are much appreciated :)

Just some general information about this story in case you were wondering:

This story will have at least 13 parts total, including the 5 already published, and I have at least a basic idea what each part will involve (meaning I do have a full outline for the story). I may add more parts if inspiration strikes, but for now, 13 parts. I have no set schedule for when I will publish them, I'm mostly just publishing as I write.

Also, in case anyone is worried, this story will have a happy ending :)

Also, next part guest stars Gabriel


	6. DISCONTINUED

Hey, so I haven't updated this series in a while and it's because I've decided to discontinue it. Honestly, while I still love Supernatural and Destiel, I've kinda phased out of my Supernatural phase and I'm focusing on other ships. I've lost both my motivation and inspiration to write this story, so I've decided to end it rather than force myself to write it. I may come back to this story one day because I still have a pretty clear picture of the plot in mind, but it's unlikely

If anybody's really interested in what would've happened, leave a note in the comments and maybe I'll publish another chapter with the outline or something.

Sorry.


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